The present invention relates generally to surface-mountable modular electrical connector assemblies including a printed circuit board. Electrical signal processing components, such as magnetic components for filtering common mode and differential mode interference and for eliminating high frequency noise, and/or light emitting means for indicating, e.g., electrical coupling with the connector assembly, may be mounted on the printed circuit board.
As used herein, xe2x80x9csurface-mountablexe2x80x9d means that the connector assemblies are mountable onto a surface of a substrate, such as a printed circuit board, and include terminal pins adapted to engage solder portions on the planar surface of the substrate.
Modular jack connectors or connector assemblies are well known in the telecommunications industry and have been adapted for mounting to printed circuit boards. These connector assemblies are typically used for electrical connection between two electrical communication devices. There are basically two ways to mount a connector assembly to a printed circuit board, namely surface mounting in which the terminal pins (or terminal portions of the contacts) engage soldering portions on a planar surface of the substrate and through-hole mounting in which the terminal pins pass through apertures in the printed circuit board.
One recurring problem with surface-mountable connector assemblies has been to achieve co-planarity between the terminal portions of all of the contacts in the connector assembly or all of the terminal pins. The terminal portions or pins are designed to engage solder regions of a planar substrate onto which the connector assembly is mounted. It is important that each of the terminal portions or pads engage the respective solder region in order to ensure proper electrical connection between the contacts and the substrate and because if the terminal portions or pads are situated in different planes, problems may arise during the soldering of the terminal portions or pads to the printed circuit board.
Another general problem with connector assemblies is that they are frequently subject to adverse operation in the presence of radio frequency interference in the electrical lines connecting the devices including such connector assemblies to, e.g., data communication lines. The electrical devices are not only susceptible to such interference, they also function as a source of such interference. Filters must therefore be interposed between connected electrical devices to screen out the interference and minimize its effect on the operation of the electrical devices. This interference may cause two types of distortion of the power circuit wave form, viz., common mode interference where identical wave forms are impressed on the electrical lines connecting the electrical devices, and differential mode interference which appears as a voltage difference between the connecting electrical lines. Circuitry exists to filter radio frequency interference, but for optimum effectiveness and cost, it has been found to be more efficient to treat the two types of interference independently, i.e., to provide one group of electrical components to serve as a common mode filter and another group of electrical components to serve as a differential mode filter.
Since electrical devices are often coupled by modular jack connector assemblies, it is desirable to construct modular jack connector assemblies with integral magnetic filter components to avoid the need for additional, external filter components. One such connector assembly is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,736,910 (Townsend et al.). Townsend et al. describes a modular jack connector assembly mounted on a main printed circuit board and having a receptacle into which a modular plug of an electronic component is inserted. The connector assembly includes a housing, a first set of contacts arranged in the housing each adapted to engage one of the contacts of the plug, a second set of contacts at least partially arranged in the housing and adapted to engaging the main printed circuit board, contact coupling circuit means for electrically coupling the first and second sets of contacts, a capacitor for providing impedance to high frequency noise and interference and a metallic shield at least partially surrounding the housing and connected to a grounding region on the main printed circuit board. The contact coupling circuit means include the filtering components which is one embodiment are toroidal coil pairs which function separately as either a differential mode filter or a common mode filter. The entire disclosure of Townsend et al. is incorporated by reference herein.
Furthermore, once the connector assemblies are mounted to the substrate, in order to ensure that a proper connection has been made and therefore a link is created between a mating plug and the connector assemblies, indicators are often incorporated into circuits on the substrate, i.e., printed circuit board. These indicators are typically light emitting diodes (LEDs) which are turned on when a circuit is completed between the mating connector assemblies and the communication devices. Additionally, LEDs can be mounted on the printed circuit board to indicate a number of other conditions including the passage of communications signals between the two communication devices, indication of power, or indication that an error in transmitting the signals has occurred. Thus, LEDs provide an easy visual reference for enabling the tester of a circuit card to test the operation of circuits on the card as well as providing a status indicator during normal operation of the card.
In an effort to miniaturize printed circuit boards and increase the available space on the printed circuit board, visual indicators have been integrated into these connector assemblies. An example of such a connector assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,317 to Pocrass which describes a connector assembly for receiving a plug having a visual indicator positioned within the front wall of the electrical connector housing. Incorporation of the indicator into the electrical connector eliminates the need for a separate location on the printed circuit board for mounting of such an indicator. The LED indicator is inserted into a recess of the housing of the electrical connector such that its electrical leads pass through a wall of the housing and connect to the printed circuit board. The indicator is then cemented into the recess or attached to the housing using an appropriate adhesive. The LEDs may also be molded into the electrical connector during the molding process of the housing.
A problem arises with these connector assemblies in that because the anode and cathode leads of the LED are side by side confusion and misconnection can result prior to board mounting. It is desirable to eliminate the need for securing the LEDs in the housing by cementing or attaching with an adhesive.
Another problem arises in that in the LEDs are situated at the front of the connector assembly, in the narrow space between the mating connector opening and the top or bottom and sides of the connector assembly. Since the connector assemblies, typically telephone jack or xe2x80x9cRJxe2x80x9d-type connector assemblies, are generally limited to predetermined dimensions, and because these connector assemblies were not initially designed to accommodate lights or other components at the front of the connector assembly, the available space is very small, and thus the LEDs are also limited in size and power. In addition, the placement of the LEDs at the front of the connector assembly presents the problem that the lead wires for the LEDs must be run through the connector assembly and bent at a ninety degree angle in order to reach the circuit board to which they are to be connected, making installation of the lights in the connector assembly difficult.
Another example of a connector assembly including an indicator light is U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,451 to Driones et al. Driones et al. shows a connector assembly having LEDs situated in openings within the stepped portion of a modular jack interior profile (FIGS. 5 and 6). Shoulders are provided to hold the LEDs in place, i.e., they are constructed to enable insertion of the LEDs through the front face of the housing while preventing removal of the LEDs through the bottom surface of the connector assembly.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,873 to Bell, Jr. shows a modular jack having a recess in a front face for receiving a light-emitting portion of an LED whereby conductor wires of the LED are passed through passageways in the jack housing to the rear of the housing and then bent downward for connection to a printed circuit board (FIGS. 1-4). In additional embodiments shown in FIGS. 5-12, the LEDs are situated at a rear of the housing and the housing is made of transparent or translucent plastic resin.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,737 to Morin et al. shows a modular jack which has LEDs in exteriorly facing recesses in a bottom wall of the housing. The LEDs have guide recesses which cooperate with guide projections situated at the sides of the recesses.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,700,157 to Chung shows a modular jack with LEDs mounted in a recess in the front face whereby each LED is connected via a terminal to a printed circuit board.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,802 to Loudermilk shows a modular jack having a two-part housing having a shell and a rear insert and includes three LEDs, each positioned in a chamber at the front of the shell and having conductor leads connected thereto which extend through a lead chamber to the rear of the shell. The conductor leads engage leads of conductors of a lead frame which are situated in the rear insert.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,741,152 to Boutros shows a modular jack having a light guide for conveying light from an LED situated at a rear of the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,946 to Briones shows a multi-port connector assembly having LEDs spaced from the printed circuit board to which the connector assembly is mounted and arranged in rearwardly facing cavities in the front wall of the connector assembly (see FIGS. 6 and 8). Leads from the LEDs extend rearwardly and downwardly through recesses for connection to the printed circuit board (See FIG. 6).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,767 to Schell shows three embodiments of a modular jack with an indicator light. In a first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the jack includes a front shield or face plate adapted to be removably or detachably received against a front wall of the jack. The face plate includes brackets having bores through which LEDs are inserted. The brackets correspond in location to cutout areas of the housing of the jack. Leads extend from the LEDs rearwardly and downwardly for connection to a printed circuit board. In a second embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the face plate includes brackets corresponding in location to the cutout areas of the housing of the jack and having one or more notches for providing a seat for LEDs. To this end, the body of the LEDs includes a groove receivable of the notch. Leads extend from the LEDs rearwardly and downwardly for connection to a printed circuit board. In a third embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the face plate includes LEDs mounted to the upper portion thereof. The LEDs are electrically coupled to an end of a flexible conductor strip. The conductor strip is contiguous with the top wall of the housing and is electrically coupled to terminal pins that are in turn electrically coupled to circuits on the printed circuit board to which the connector assembly is mounted. A lens overlies the LEDs and softens the LED light effect.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,790,041 to Lee shows a modular jack having an opening situated in a bottom wall defining the plug-receiving cavity and which is positioned above an LED mounted on the printed circuit board to which the jack is mounted (see, e.g., FIG. 3A). Upon insertion of a plug into the cavity in the jack, the LED emits light which passes through the opening and through the transparent part of the plug to provide a visual indication of the status of the connection.
For the most part, in the prior art discussed above, the LEDs are arranged within the housing of the jack. Depending on the particular construction of the jack, the size of the LEDs would be limited in view of the specific dimensional requirements of RJ-type modular jacks. Moreover, since LEDs generate a significant amount of electrical noise, the proximity of the LEDs to the contact members in the jacks could adversely affect the data transmission.
In the prior art discussed above, there is no surface-mountable electrical connector assembly including a printed circuit board in which the terminal portions or pads are reliably positioned co-planar with one another and which is capable of having both a visual indicator and magnetic filtering components mounted on the printed circuit board.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide new and improved surface-mountable modular connector assemblies including a printed circuit board arranged in the housing of the connector assembly.
Another object of the present invention is to provide new and improved surface-mountable modular connector assemblies which solve the problems associated with achieving co-planarity of terminal portions of contacts or terminal pads.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide new and improved modular connector assemblies including a printed circuit board capable of having visual indicators and/or magnetic filtering components mounted thereon.
In order to achieve the objects mentioned above and others, one embodiment of a connector assembly for surface-mounting on a substrate comprises a jack defining a plug-receiving receptacle and comprising a printed circuit board component including a printed circuit board, a first set of contacts each including a contact portion arranged in the receptacle and a board portion connected to the printed circuit board, and a second set of contacts each including a terminal portion adapted for mounting to a planar surface of a substrate and a board portion connected to the printed circuit board. The printed circuit board includes a wiring pattern for electrically coupling the first and second sets of contacts. The terminal portions extend rearwardly and downward from the jack and have a co-planar portion which is attached to the planar surface of the printed circuit board, e.g., by soldering.
The jack comprises an outer housing part and an inner housing part arranged in the outer housing part. The inner housing part is generally L-shaped including a front, horizontal portion, a vertical wall extending from a rear edge of and perpendicular to the front portion, and a pair of opposed projections extending rearward at lateral sides of the vertical wall and defining an open space therebetween. The printed circuit board component is situated at least partially in the space between the projections and alongside the vertical wall. The printed circuit board optionally includes at least one electronic signal processing component whereby the wiring pattern thus includes wiring to and/or from the component(s). For example, the signal processing component may be several toroids arranged to provide filtering for the signals being transmitted through the jack.
The printed circuit board component preferably comprises an insert assembly connected thereto and which includes a housing, the second set of contacts being arranged in connection with the housing whereby the co-planar portions of the terminal portions are co-planar with one another prior to connection of the insert assembly to the printed circuit board. An advantage of this construction is that the insert assembly is a separate component. The terminal portion of the contacts in the second set of contacts are adapted to be surface-mounted to the substrate and thus, by manufacturing the insert assembly separately, it can be assured that the terminal portions are co-planar at a rear thereof thereby avoiding problems when mounting the connector assembly to the substrate.
Some embodiments of the connector assembly include light generating means for providing light visible from a front of the jack, e.g., indicative of some function involving the jack. For example, the light generating means, e.g., one or more LEDs, may be arranged proximate and even on the printed circuit board and a light pipe element having at least one light transmitting section arranged in channels in the outer housing part. Each light transmitting section is visible from the front of the jack and situated in a path of the light generating means such that light generated by the light generating means is transmitted through the light transmitting section to the front of the jack. In the alternative, the LEDs may be arranged adjacent and flush with a front face of the jack, in which case, electrical leads are provided and extend from each LED to the printed circuit board. The wiring pattern in the printed circuit board thus provides at least a portion of an electrical path between each LED and at least one contacts in the second set of contacts.
Another embodiment of the connector assembly comprises a jack defining a plug-receiving receptacle and comprising a printed circuit board component including a printed circuit board, a first set of contacts each including a contact portion arranged in the receptacle and a board portion connected to the printed circuit board, a second set of contacts each including a terminal portion adapted for connection to a substrate on which the connector assembly is mounted and a board portion connected to the printed circuit board, and light generating means arranged in connection with the printed circuit board for providing light visible from a front of the jack. The printed circuit board includes a wiring pattern for electrically coupling the first set of contacts, the second set of contacts and the light generating means. For this embodiment, the terminal portions may be adapted for surface mounting or through-hole mounting to the substrate.